What's Your Budget?

Finding the perfect shooting system in our line of Custom and RTK Rifles.

Cut-Rate Rifles Don't Cut It

I remember the first Best of the West/Huskemaw system I bought. Before, I was using a cheap and largely inadequate rifle/scope combo to hunt the big country of central Arizona. My entire setup cost maybe $500 and although I had some successful hunts with it, I was clearly using the wrong equipment.

At the time, I didn’t know what I didn't know but after a friend took my son and me hunting and I watched my then 12-year old boy harvest a Coues deer at 923 yards with my friend's Best of the West system - I instantly knew something had to change. My “eastern” gun and optic wasn’t going to cut it for western-style long-range hunting. I needed to upgrade my gear.

Shortly after that hunt, I wound up buying my buddy's gun. It cost me thousands of dollars and it was a stretch, to say the least. Buying that gun was a tough sell for both me and my wife but I knew if we were going to be successful hunting as a family I needed a more appropriate firearm. The problem was that it came with a hefty price tag considering the low-dollar rifle I had been using and it was initially a tough pill to swallow.

That rifle however changed my life because several years and many successful hunts later I was inspired to start “Best of the West Arizona” (BOTWAZ). Since then I’ve learned what it takes to consistently harvest big game in big country and I’m more acutely aware of the vast differences between production rifles, custom rifles, guns that come with no accuracy guarantee, and those that do. More importantly, I better understand how much budget plays a role in choosing a system.

Today, the cost of long-range hunting rifles and optics is substantially more than when I bought that first gun and I find the longer I do this the quicker I am to ask prospective customers the question, “What's your budget?”. While it may initially seem like a sales pitch, my customers quickly realize that their budget determines where we start the conversation.

Staying True to Our Roots

At BOTWAZ I’m proud of the fact that we’ve found a way to stay true to our BOTW/Huskemaw roots and still offer various price point options for those looking to upgrade their long-range systems. From complete custom rifles to our new RTK line, we have a price point to fit almost any budget. Please allow me to explain.

Your best option for a reliable, consistent, high-quality long-range hunting system is always going to be our line of custom rifles. Best of the West custom rifles are made from premium components manufactured to much higher quality control standards than production rifles. In addition, they’re assembled by skilled technicians who are focused on your particular build. Custom rifles come with a steep price tag but so do Ferraris!

It’s important to understand when buying a custom rifle that you're paying for the quality of the components as well as the manner in which they’re assembled. Custom rifle builds are time-consuming and meticulously performed by highly trained individuals. The customer is getting something unique and that system is expected to perform to the highest standards in the industry. For example, a custom Best of the West rifle doesn’t leave our shop unless it shoots half MOA or better! These are top-of-the-line systems and they come with a respectable price tag. Most custom rifles being sold today range in price from about $7K to $10K. But again, you're getting the best long-range hunting system in the world so you should be prepared to pay for the best.

Introducing The R.T.K. Line

The advent of our RTK line of rifles has been met with a lot of enthusiasm. In fact, the first few systems we built were sold before the jobs were even finished. “RTK” stands for “Ready-to-Kill” which implies that these systems are ready to hunt! We sell them as a package to include the base rifle, the Huskemaw Optic of your choice as well as 2 dual-stack custom yardage turrets (Tactical or Blue Diamond), a hard case, 40 rounds of ammo, a wind meter, a sunshade, scope coat, and switch view lever. The base rifles we choose are based on our experience doing Accurizer jobs for customers over the years.

We select popular production rifles that have a good track record but also come with a manufacturer's claim of accuracy (most often Sub-MOA). These are rifles we’ve had success Accurizing over the years. They're not the quality of a full custom rifle but they’re decent guns and when we add a Huskemaw Opic and perform our standard Accurizer Service we’re able to turn them into pretty solid long-range shooters. We routinely have customers harvesting big game at 800, 900, even 1,000 yards with them AND we guarantee their accuracy and verify them out to 1,000 yards!

The wonderful thing about our RTK Packages is their varying price points. For example, we offer rifle packages topped with our Huskemaw 5-20x50 Blue Diamond that start at about $4K and they may go up to about $6K - $7K depending on the base rifle and optic you choose. Our customers have told us they’re really excited about these systems and we’re excited to see y’all handing out dirt naps with them!

Coming Full Circle

Getting into long-range hunting can be a bit pricey but the last place you want to skimp is on your rifle/optic combo. All hobbies are expensive but I’ve never cried after shooting a bad game of golf. Hunting is serious business and if you're anything like me, it’s a central part of your life. So, when I spend a lot of time, money, and energy going hunting I want a long-range system that can get the job done in one shot (no matter the range), and doing that requires the right equipment.

Whatever your budget chances are we have a long-range hunting package for you. From our top-of-the-line Best of the West custom rifles to our RTK packages we have a system and a price point to suit almost any budget. But, don't be surprised when the first thing we ask is, “What’s your budget?”